Our current home study expires in a few weeks, so my agency emailed me today with all the forms to fill out to update our home study. It's actually not as bad as I thought it would be. The worst part is having to go back to the doctor for the blood tests. The additional forms we have to submit are our taxes from last year and criminal background check. Our social worker then has to do one home visit. Again, praying that we have a referral soon!! None of this even seems real because all we have done is give money and paperwork to our agency, and we started this process in August of 2013 :( I can't wait to meet the little boy who will come live with us.
Non adoption news - only 159 days until we leave for Maui, Hawaii!! Our 10 year anniversary trip!!
Haiti Adoption Update #4
Haiti Family Program Update
February 4, 2015
We hope this update finds your family well and hopefully not facing too much cold, winter weather. We know some of you have been hit hard by the storms in the northeast.
Silvia and Daniel continue to check in with IBESR regarding our families who have dossiers registered to see if any have received matches yet. They also continue to inquire about the new regulations being implemented. If we receive word that a family has been matched with a child or if IBESR has requested any additional information, we will notify individual families. Otherwise, families who have dossiers at IBESR continue to be on the waiting list for referral with little information available on timeframes for specific cases or status other than IBESR is working through registered dossiers.
Our representatives did report they learned that IBESR has recently had to reduce staff due to a loss of funding. They had been receiving some financial support to implement The Hague but that funding has apparently ended and they have had to reduce staff which is causing things to move more slowly than hoped for. As a result, we have not received a list of waiting children from IBESR and do not anticipate it for some time now.
For those families who had their dossiers already registered through our partner crèche MDA prior to implementation of the Hague convention, we are still hopeful you will receive a match through MDA depending on the children they have available that match your approval. Silvia and Daniel are contacting other crèches to see if they have children available for adoption whose files can be submitted to IBESR. Some of these crèches have higher fees for the care of the child and processing than MDA, so families receiving a match or referral from another crèche may have increased international fees upon referral that is due to the particular crèche where the child is residing.
In regards to those of you who have not yet completed your dossier, Silvia and Daniel have just informed us, that generally IBESR requests that documents be signed in blue ink so that they can tell that the signature is an original one. They have not up to this point rejected any documents signed in black ink; but for future families submitting dossiers you need to be aware of this recommendation.
We understand the changes in Haiti are taking time and that is hard for families; especially those whose paperwork is already submitted to IBESR. We suggest that during this waiting time you continue to network with other families adopting for support as well as continue to prepare yourself through seminars, books, educational events. Creating a Family (www.creatingafamily.org ) is a great resource for different adoption topics and radio shows. We would encourage you to visit this site for topics of interest.
If you have any questions about this update, feel free to contact your program coordinator.
Thanks,
Tania Griasnow
Angela Jackson
